


empty graves

by remi_wolf



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: (mentioned as Gerry still technically has cancer), Alcohol, Angst, Angst and Feels, Cancer, Canonical Character Death, Cigarettes, Dysfunctional Family, Familial Abuse, Gen, Gerard Keay Lives, Illnesses, One Shot, Pre-Canon, Prompt Fill, bar setting, gertrude's a dick, no edits no betas we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-06
Updated: 2020-07-06
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:48:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25104199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/remi_wolf/pseuds/remi_wolf
Summary: It didn't take Gerry nearly as long as he would have expected to recover from the first surgery and the seizure that necessitated it. It took him less than six months to get back to London, too. Gertrude must be anxious to know how's he's doing, how he can help, anything like that. He knows that between the Dark's ritual, and the Unknowing, she would be needing his help fast. It wasn't as though she had any assistants anymore, and he knew almost as much as she did. She had to need him.She had to.
Kudos: 23
Collections: Beguilements and Distractions





	empty graves

**Author's Note:**

> Found a nice dialogue prompt on tumblr. Unfortunately, I don't have my exact source anymore, but it was there. Basically, it gave me the beginning dialogue, and I figured that would be perfect for my darling Gerry Keay. I might continue this later, I'm not sure, considering I really love him, but longfics are getting difficult for me to write. Right now, I'm sticking with this. Hope you enjoy!

“Given the fact that I am most certainly, absolutely, completely not dead, I’ve gotta ask, what poor sap did you bury in my grave?”

Gertrude hummed softly as she tapped the cigarette against the glass of the ashtray between the two of them in the dim pub. “Not sure. Perhaps it was one of the Strangers.”

Gerry couldn’t help the soft laugh at the idea, quietly tapping a ring against the glass of the pint he was nursing. It took him ages to get back to London, and he knew exactly where he needed to go first, who he needed to see. He might barely be in one piece, but she needed to know that he was alive. After so many years, she was basically like another mother to him, and he owed it to her to try to get to her as quickly as possible. So here he was, sitting across from her in a dim pub, trying not to laugh at the thought of her having killed someone, or mistaking a Stranger for him enough to bury them instead. “That would be a strange move for you, if it was.”

“Yes , rather unusual, considering I was sure that I had put you into Mary’s book.”

Gerry froze, the cigarette in his hands crumpling as he processed those words and what Gertrude could mean by it, and he stared up at her. He couldn’t think of any other possible meaning other than the obvious meaning. “Mary’s book? My mother’s skin book?” 

“The very same.”

“Fuck you.”

Gertrude merely smiled, shrugging before taking a slow drag of the cigarette in her hands, still pristine as ever other than the embers at the end. “You always knew I was going to do that, and if you didn’t, then you don’t know me nearly as well as you think you do.”

Gerry dropped the cigarette into the ashtray before tipping the dregs of the pint back. His hands were shaking, and he probably needed to get another doctor’s appointment to check in on the whole “brain tumor” thing that wasn’t entirely taken care of yet, he didn’t think. Not that he had particularly cared, even if he should. “Fuck you again, Gertrude. Here I was, thinking you might have been a bit of a better mother than that bitch, but here we are, just as awful as she was.” He flashed her a grin of sharp teeth, standing up so that he could properly leave her again.

“Sit back down. You’re acting like a child.”

Gerry frowned as he looked over at the bar, the promise of further alcohol, before he sat down again. Of course he sat down again. It wasn’t as though he could do anything else .

Gertrude seemed somewhat pleased by that, at least. A small smile graced her lips, though Gerry knew better than to think that she was properly happy about this. If he had learned anything about her in his time at her side, it was that she was never happy, and that she was just as much a monster as anything they hunted. Never because of her status as the Archivist, though, but simply because she didn’t seem to care about anything at all. Not unless it served her purposes. He had just been stupid enough to think that Gertrude thought of him differently. 

“Do you at least have the book?” he asked, quieter as he dug his dark nails into the sticky seal of the wood, not wanting to see her shark’s grin any longer. He felt like he was going to get sick if he saw it any longer than he needed to. “Might as well burn it, finally. Clearly it’s not needed.”

“Clearly it is, considering I might have need of it in the future.”

“Gertrude.”

She sighed softly before Gerry heard the click of a lighter again. “The book went missing. I unfortunately had to drop it after I was almost caught binding you to it.”

“Obviously you didn’t bind me to it at all.”

“Obviously. Stop being such a child, Gerard. I thought I taught you better than this.”

“Just shut up. Alright? Shut up, seriously. You didn’t even bother to try and get it back at all, did you? You would have just left me there forever. Left me to die, left me to be bound in a book for eternity.” Gerry laughed softly before running a hand through his short hair, wishing it was longer and he could properly pull on it. He couldn’t believe any of this. He worked so hard to get to London, to get back here to continue helping Gertrude. “Tell me you’ve at least figured something out for the next Ritual. Dark, right? Then Stranger?”

“I’ve got everything under control, Gerard. I’m sure I could find something for you, however none of my plans need you. I’ve already accounted for your loss, and I really don’t think I need you to be a part of them at this point.”

“Accounted? Don’t need me? Gertrude, are you serious? You know how much I’ve helped you before.” Gerry couldn’t help but stare at her, and she simply raised an eyebrow at him. The lack of immediate response almost hurt more than any excuse she could come up with in the few moments. 

“Gerard—”

“No. I don’t want to hear it.”

Gerry sighed as he thought about it before simply shaking his head. This was ridiculous, and he was tired of hearing it from her. First Mary, and now Gertrude. Apparently he couldn’t ever manage to ever keep himself safe, as much as he tried. He looked at Gertrude one last time before finally walking towards the door. It was stupid, how he was so worked up and broken about this, but he pushed his way out of the pub, disappearing into the cool night air. He didn’t need Gertrude. He didn’t need to bother with her anymore.

* * *

Gerry still found himself staring at the wall in shock when he finally heard about her disappearance. Gone. Entirely disappeared. No sign of her, and an entirely new Archivist installed in the Institute. Gertrude’s work was entirely undone, and Gerry entirely lost. He did all that work to get back here, to end up in one piece, all to have it be for nothing. 

Gertrude didn’t care about him. 

His mother didn’t care about him. 

Perhaps he’d be able to...find a way to care about himself. 

Care about himself, and find a way to...do something. 

He had survived this long. He could survive more.


End file.
